Perforated note-sheet for automatic musical instruments.



C. F. STODDARD. E SHEET FOR AUTOMATIC MUS!CAL iNS APPUCATION men OCT.12, m4.

TRUMENTS.

PERFORMED NOT Patented Feb. 19, 1918.

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S rto UNITED STATES PATENT onrron.

CHARLES F. STODIDARI), OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

PERFORATED NOTE-SHEET FOR AUTOMATIC MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 19, 1918.

Application filed October 12, 1914. Serial No. 866,218.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES F. STonnAnn, a citizen of the United States,and a resident of New York, county and State of New York, have inventedan Improvement in Perforated Note-Sheets for Automatic MusicalInstrmnents, of which the following description, in connection with theaccompanying drawings, is a-specification,

like characters on the drawingsrepresenting like parts.

This invention relates to prime controllers, such as perforated notesheets, for use upon automatic player pianos and the like.

One of the ob ectS of the invention is to improve the playing governedby a note sheet, particularly as regards the tone coloring, and toprovide for producing the socalled singing tone which characterizes anddistinguishes the manual playing of some of the greatest artists.

The character of the invention may be best understood by reference tothe accompanying drawing which shows, for purposes of illustration, afragment of a note sheet having perforations arranged in accordance withone aspect of the invention.

Referring to the drawing, the arrow A in dicates the assumed directionof travel of the illustrative note sheet. The perforations illustratedin full lines are those which would have been cut in the sheet accordingto the practice which generally prevailed in the art prior to thisinvention and a companion invention disclosed in my earlier Patent No.1,025,077, dated April 30, 1912. That is to say, the full lineperforations of the drawing are assumed to have been laid out byreference to a musical score or a record of an artists playing, byrelatively locating the advance ends of the perforations so as to soundtheir respective notes in desired musical sequence, and by giving to theperforations relative lengths corresponding to the respective durationsindicated upon the score or record. The dotted line prolongations of thefull line perforations indicate the extension of said perforations forsustaining their notes in pursuance of this invention; and the dottedline perforations at the left-hand margin of the illustrativesheetindicate pedal operating perforations of unique character andpurpose which cooperate with the other perforations and prolongations toproduce the ultimate refinewith a prolongation ment in tonal effectcontemplated by the present invention.

The transverse lines m, m and m indi cate lines of division. betweenso-called pedaled sections, 2'. 6., those sections of the note sheetcorresponding respectively to periods during which a damper pedal,according to the score or record, is intended to be depressed to holdall the strings undamped. For example, it is assumed that the score orrecord from which the illustrative note sheet is made indicates a damper pedal operation by which the dampers are removed from the strings ata point corresponding to the line m, are held off the strings during theperiod represented by the distance from line m to line m, and arereturned to the strings at a point corresponding to the line m.Similarly the section 772, m represents approximately a second pedalsection.

It is assumed that all of the notes corresponding to the perforations inthe section m, m are in harmony and that they may desirably soundconcurrently throughout the section. Therefore the perforation 1 isprovided with a prolongation 2 so as to contribute the sounding of thenote either. from the initial percussion or by sympathetic vibration,throughout the period represented by the perforation 1 plus theprolongation 2. Similarly, the perforation 3 is provided 4. Theperforation 5 has a prolongation 6 terminating in proximity to theadvance end of a resounding perforation 7 which has a prolongation 8. Aperforation 9 is followed by resounding perforation 10 which has aprolongation 11. A perforation 12 has a prolongation 13. A perforation14, instead of being prolonged, is curtailed, having its rear endlocated at the point indicated by the arrow 15; and likewise aperforation 16 is curtailed having its rear end located at a pointindicated by the arrow l7these curtailments of perforations having anobject presently to be described.

A pedal operating perforation 18 (to govern any suitable form of damperpedal operating mechanism) may be used if desired, as presentlydescribed, but its use is not indispensable to the substance of thepresent invention and therefore the perfo ration 18 may be disregardedfor the time being.

One of the purposes of this invention is to provide for prolongingselected notes from one harmony group into another to improve the tonaleffects in the second group by adding thereto the notes so selected tothe exclusion of non-selected notes. To suit this object it is assumedthat the notes of perforations 3, 7. 12 and 19 if continued into thesecond pedaled section m, m would add dcsirablv to the harmony of saidsecond section; and it is also assumed that the notes of perforations 1,10, 11 and 16, if prolonged into the second section m, m would producediscord. perforations 3', 7, 1'2 and 19' are the notes selected to becontinued into the second section m, m to he exclusion of theso-calle'tl non-selected notes of the perforations 1, 10, 11' and 16.

To prolong the selected notes, an auxiliary sustaining means is providedto bridge over the interval or hiatus between the first sec-- tion 721,m and the second section 972, m such auxiliar sustaining means beingexemplified b-va damper pedal operating perforation -2O, the advance endof which overlaps the rear ends of the prolonged perforations i, 7S,12-13, and also overlaps the rear end of the perforation 19. Thus,although the termination of the perforations 1, S, 13 and 19 tends toreapply the dampers to their respective strings, the pedal operatingperforation :20 comes in operation soon enough to retain said dampers inundampingpos tion so tha; the appropriate strings are held undamped solong as the perforationQO continues to operate.

If the prolongation were continued to overlap the advance end of thepedal per foration 20, the note of the perforation 1-2 would also besustained by the pedal perforation 20; but as already stated the note ofsaid perforation 1 2 would be objectionable if continued into the secondsection m. on", and therefore the prolongation 2 is terminated at such apointas to return its damper to its string and arrest vibration thereofbefore the pedal perforation 2O b2- gins to operate. For instance, theprolonga tion 2 has its rear end located in front of the advance end oftie pedal perforation 20. Similarly, the prolongation 11, correspondingto another non-selected note, is terminated in front of the perforation'20.

As a ready stated, the full line perforations 1i and 16 have lengthswhich are assumed to correspond with the indications of the score orrecord from which the note sheet is made. And if these lengths werepreserved, the perforations 1st and 16 would overlap the advance end ofthe pedal perforation 20 wh ch would therefore prolong the notes of theperforations 1 1' and 16 into the second pedaled section. It is assumed, however, that the notes of perfora- Therefore, the notes of tions14 and. 16 would produce discord if so continued and therefore saidperforations are curtailed to lengths less than those indicated by thescore or record, as by having their rear ends located respectively atthe points 15, 17 so that the strings of the perforations 1 t, 16 willbe damped before the pedal perforation 2O begins to act. It is true. ofcourse (when the usual automatic damper pedal operation is employed),that the advance end of thepedal' perforation 2O promptly undamps thestrings after they have beencdamped by the rear ends of the perforations11., let and 16 gbut the termination of said last named perforationswill have had the effect of stopping the audible residual vibrations oftheir strings and will have rendered the strings inert sothat; duringthe operation of the pedal perforation fZOsaidstrings will vibrate onlysympathetically with, in many cases, more subdued tones.

1Vith thedescribed arrangement, the said prolongations continue-theirrcspectivonotcs within the first pedaled section m, m; and the pedalperforation 20 cooperating with the perforations of the selected notescontinues said notes, to the exclusion of the non-selected notes, intothe second pedalcd section m, m

In the second pedaled section, the perforation 22 resounds the note ofperforatirm; 5-45 and 7S, and the note further continued by aprolongation 23 terminated, in proX mit) to the advance end of anotherresounding perforation 24. A perforation 25 plays a new note, which iscontinued by a prolongation 26. A perforation 2T resounds the note ofperforations 12-13', which note is continued by a prolongation 98.Another new note is introduced by a perforation 29 and continuedbv aprolongation 30; and still another note is introduced by a perforation31. The pedal perforation 20' is shown for illustration as having alength sufficient to overlap the advance ends ofhll the perforations 29,27, Q9 and 31, the effect of this being to hold the strings undampedduring the sounding of the notes of said perforations so as to produceby the continued vibration of the selected strings a singing background,it were, upon which to superpose the resounding of certain of the notesand the initial sounding of the new notesit being the provision of sucha singing background which produces some of the beautiful tone effectscontemplated bv this invention. 1

The length to be given the pedaled perforation 20, or its equivalent orsubstituteis a matter to be determined by selection bv one skilled" inthe art. For example. in some cases it may be desired to utilize in theaggregate tone volume, the general sympathetic vibration of all of thestrings which are undamped by the pedal perforation. In other cases itmay be desired to minimize this general sympathetic vibration and, undersuch circumstances, the length of the perforation 20 mightbe minimizedas Will be understood by those skilled in the art.

The arrangement thus far described provides for prolongingselected notesfrom one section into another so that the cooperation of the describedprolongations and the illustrative pedal perforation 20 produces a verydesirable approximation of tone continuity. To produce a furtherrefinement, however, and practically perfectv said continuity, ad-

ditional auxiliary sustaining means, cxem plitied by the pedalperforations 18 and 32, may be provided. The pedal perforation. 18 hasits advance end located in such position as to maintain the string ofthe perforation 5 6 undamped (in spite of the termination of saidperforation), and likewise to hold undamped' the string of theperforation 9, so that the resounding of the respective notes by theperforations 7 and 10 shall take place While their strings are stillundamped. Thus the perforation 18 bridges over the in terval between therear ends of the perforations 6 and 9 and the advance ends of theperforations 7 and 10 so as to continue the sounding of said stringsduring or until the resounding.

In like manner the perforation 32 continues the sounding from theprolongation 23 until the resounding by the perfora tion 2 1.

The effect of cooperation of the prolongations and described pedalperforations will be appreciated in its ultimate refinement when it isnoted that the string correspond ing to the perforation 5 is heldcontinuously undamped from the time of the initial percussion by theperforation 5, through the prolongation 6, then by the pedal perforation18, through the note perforation 7 and its prolongation 8, then by thepedal perforation 20, through the note perforation 22 and itsprolongation 23, then by the pedal perforation 32, and finally by theperforation 24. Thus following the initial percussion of the note, thestring may sound con tinuously, either by residual or sympathetic vib'ation, so that its sounding may produce a continuous singing effectWhich is merely punctuated, so to speak, by the resounding the repeatedpercussions by the perfora tions 7. 32 and 2-1. Similarly, the stringcorresponding to the perforation 12 may be held continuously undampedfrom the time of initial percussion by the perforation 12 throughout theplaying and to the rear end of the prolongation 28. It will be obviousto those skilled in the art that arrangements such as those describedoffer opportunity for producing very beautiful tone effects.

It is to be understood that this invention is not limited to theparticular organization and arrangement described above for.illustration, since the particular details of construction may bevariously changed and the invention may be variously embodied.Furthermore, it is not indispensable that all the features of theinvention be used conjointly, since they may be used separately invarious combinations and sub-combinations Claims- 1. A note sheet forautomatic musical instruments comprising a succession of groups ofnote-sounding perforations; certain of said perforations being prolongedbeyond lengths corresponding to the indications of the score or recordfrom which the note sheet is made, to sustain the notes of saidprolonged perforations Within a group; and auxiliary sustainingperforations cooperating With selected ones of said prolongedperforations to the exclusion of non-selected notes, to continue thenotes of said selected perforations from their original group intoanother group.

2. A note sheet for automatic musical instruments comprising asuccession of groups of note-sounding perforations, certain perforationsin a group being prolonged beyond lengths corresponding to theindications of the score or record from which the note sheet is made,and certain of said prolongations being longer than others; andauxiliary sustaining perforations cooperating with said longerperforations to the exclusion of the others to continue the notes ofsaid longer perforations from their original group into another group.

3. A note sheet for automatic musical instruments comprising asuccession of groups of note-sounding perforations, certain of saidperforations being curtailed to lengths less than the lengths indicatedby the score or record from which the note sheet is made; and auxiliarysustaining perforations co- -operating with non-curtailed noteperforations to continue the notes thereof from their original groupinto another group to the exclusion of the notes of the curtailedperforations.

4. A note sheet for automatic musical instruments comprising asuccession of groups of note sounding perforations, certain selectedperforations being prolonged to sustain their notes Within a group; andauxiliary sustaining perforations for sustaining notes of one group intoanother.

5. A note sheet for automatic musical instruments comprising asuccession of pedaled sections of note-sounding perforations; and anauxiliary sustaining perforation extending from one pedaled section intothe next.

6. A note sheet for automatic musical instruments comprising asuccession of pedaled sections of note-sounding perforations;

an anxiliary sustaining perforation extending from one pedaled sectioninto the next; and certain selected perforations in the first pedaledsection being prolonged to cooperate with said auxiliary sustainingperforation.

1 A note sheet for automatic musical instruinents comprising asuccession of pedaled sections of note-sounding perforations; anauxiliary sustaining perforation extending from one pedaled section intothe next; and certain perforations of said first pedaled section beingcurtailed to terminate its note prior to the operation of said auxiliarysustaining perforation.

8. A note sheet for automatic musical instruinents comprising asuccession of groups of notesounding perforations including sounding andresounding perforations; and perforations for sustaining selected notesthrough a plurality of resounding operations comprising prolongations ofindividual note perforations, auxiliary sustaining perforations forbridging intervals between sounding and resounding notes and auxiliarysustaining perforations for bridging the interval between one group andanother.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing Witnesses.

CHARLES F. STODDARD.

Witnesses:

FRANCIS H. B. Brawn, J. H. Cruse.

Copies of this patent may he obtained or five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner 0! Patents.

Washington, D. C.

